Freelance Writer, Editor, Speaker, Social Media Manager

Clean Start

On the weekend I saw something that inspired me to write. At the time I thought a blog post, but upon further reflection I think it’ll be my next Editor’s Note in Bread ‘n Molasses for July.

Today has been long and tiring. I’ve finally started my spring cleaning. Yes, I’ve only been thinking about it for about a month now, but today was the day. I have a detailed plan of action, room by room, step by step.The plan is to do just one room per day, which should make the whole thing more manageable and not feel too overwhelming.

I decided to start with my office first for a couple of different reasons.

First, it’s pretty small, so I figured I could definitely do the whole thing in one shot and gain momentum from my sense of accomplishment. This worked! I am ready to push on to another room tomorrow!

Second, my office is my money corner in feng shui, so it’s important to keep it tidy and uncluttered so money will flow to me freely. Money is good! It makes me happy.

And third, I spend the majority of my time in this space, and if it’s cluttered or dirty or in any way out of sorts, then dammit so am I! And we can’t have that.

So today being a long weekend, a holiday Monday, I gave myself permission to get up and not turn the computer on (which is always the very first thing I do). Instead I sat at my bistro table in the morning sunshine (yes, there was some early today) and ate a slice of toast for a breakfast that I actually woke up feeling hungry for (which never happens) while I read a few pages from a novel I’ve been picking at for a couple of days now.

Then I visited the Wii Fit for the first time in 14 days. Isn’t it nice how he keeps track and lets me know he’s missed me?! I have lost 1.1 pounds since last I checked in. Which is okay since I’ve been doing nothing healthy in those 14 days absence. I didn’t do any of the aerobic or strength exercises because I knew I’d get a workout moving furniture around and scrubbing and stuff.

Instead I did one of the balance exercises that teaches you to find your zen and to be still. You sit crosslegged on the Wii and focus on a candle for three minutes. They try to distract you with footsteps, flying moths and changing the screen view. But I did really well. Four stars. And I felt focused at the end. Centred. Ready to tackle the room!

First I took everything out of the space and put it into the living room. I took all the pictures and calendar off the wall. I took down the curtains and put them in the wash. I had hoped to be able to rig something up for scrubbing the ceilings and walls, a wet rag on the end of the Swifter, but it wasn’t working for me so I went old school and scrubbed everything by hand. Amazingly I did not fall off the chair or wrench my back.

Disassembling and reassembling the computer was quite the chore in and of itself. I spent a good 45 minutes just cleaning the keyboard. Once I get started I’m a crazy perfectionist when it comes to these things.

If you’ve ever been to my place when the dust bunnies are taking hostages, perfectionist might not immediately spring to mind, but it’s true. I don’t seem to be able to do the middle of the road thing. I’m either all in or all out. I’ll go over something five times with three different types of cleaners to try and get the perfect sheen or finish. Be an absolute freak about it. Or I’ll go the exact opposite and won’t even try to clean something because I know it will consume me for days if I start. It’s obsessive compulsive or something. I’m not sure. It’s definitely not healthy or productive. Sometimes I’m able to function like a normal human being. But it’s challenging.

Anyway, I scrubbed everything and then put it all back together, which took about five hours. Kind of insane for a little room, but hey, I think it’s lovely. And I can go to bed knowing that black mark won’t come off, no matter what.

I decided to change the furniture around. I’ve put the desk directly in front of the window now. So I can look around my monitor and see the river. I can see the sky, watch the birds flying by. I’m facing outside. Today this worked because it was overcast, we’ll have to wait and see what happens when the sun comes out though. I was thinking more of evenings when I did it. Now that the weather is nice I leave my curtains open all evening so I can see the river. I thought this vantage point might be particularly inspiring. Plus, I just really needed to shake up the energy in this place. The old placement wasn’t doing it for me at all anymore.

I put my favourite chair and an end table in the corner along the wall where the computer used to be. The wine rack and phone stay where they were. The money corner is empty. I’ve got telephone wire running along the floor. I tried to tape it, but that hasn’t worked. And it looks terrible. Need to find a better way to deal with that. Another plus is that I can easily get to the back of my computer now to plug in stuff, which was an issue before.

So overall, I’m kinda loving it and I’m feeling very optimistic and energized, even though the rest of the house is still a freaking mess.

Tomorrow, I tackle the kitchen which includes cleaning the oven. I’m opting to try baking soda out for that job, rather than a chemical oven cleaner. Because the last time I cleaned an oven using one of those sprays I kinda sorta poisoned myself. It wasn’t good. So, I’ll try the more natural method first … and of course I’ll be running out to the store to buy more cleaners if I can’t get it to a perfectly beautiful state, because that’s what I do.

Well the whole perfectionist thing is really not a good way to be, because 9 times out of 10 you end up living in a sty because you can’t possibly make it perfect. My housecleaning got derailed a bit by my computer’s death and a suddenly active social life, but I still have my list and cleaning will resume shortly!